I am plagued with starter issues on my Force outboard 1999 120HP.
Last summer my orginal starter died (it would no longer have enough power to turn the motor). Decided to buy a new one instead of rebuilding it.
Got a new aftermarket one off ebay for about $80. Installed it and great, worked all last summer.
Last month, took the boat out for the 1st time this summer and after a few stops & starts on the lake, it all of a sudden started having a hard time turnign the motor. I thought it was the battery. Attached my portable battery booster and no luck. Got towed back to the ramp.
At home I determined it was the starter that I got a year before. I tracked down my receipts and saw I had 1 year warranty. It was exactly 1 year and I emailed the contact and they were great and shipped me a new one.
Got a new repalcement a week later and installed. Tested at home and it worked fine.
Took it onto the lake and problems started fairly soon. Sometimes the worm gear wouldnt shoot up to engage onto the ring gear. I checked the worm gear and it would get really stuck at the bottom of the shaft. I managed to manually free it (it was really stuck tight). After that I could start but it kept getting stuck and as a result it couldnt engage. It was oiled/lubed well though.
Went home, took out the starter and seems like a manufaturing fault. I could reproduce the worm gear getting stuck at its default position at home.
I emailed the company again and they said they will ship me another. Got the other one last week and installed and seemed to work great at home.
Went to the lake yesterday. It worked well for about 10 stop & go's. After about the 10th time the starter would no longer turn the motor. I took off the engine cover and saw the worm gear still engaged on the flywheel ring gear. It was very tight against the ring gear which is why it didnt want to drop. I had to move the flywheel with my hands to force the worm gear to drop. It kept getting stuck onto the flywheel when trying to start and was having a hard time to trun the motor.
Fortunatly I still had the previous starter with me, the one where the work gear would get stuck at the bottom position and wouldnt engage. I knew at least this one worked so I quickly swapped it out while on the lake.
When I tried starting, the ring gear came of the flywheel. What the heck! There was no way I could get the ring gear back on so was stranded again!
My questions:
1. Are these cheap after market starters inferior pieces of junk?
2. Am I doing somethign wrong when replacing the starter? I cant see that I am becuase there are only 2 nuts at the top and 1 with a braket to the side that mounts to the block.
3. When installing the starter, does it need to be alligned somehow? I dont see how that is possible as it fits quite snug with not much play.
4. How the heck could the ring gear come off the flywheel?
5. Should I bite the bullet and spend over $200 for a genuine mercury/force starter? If so, can anyone suggest where to buy one from at a decent price?
Sorry for the lengthly message, hope someone has some insight here.
Last summer my orginal starter died (it would no longer have enough power to turn the motor). Decided to buy a new one instead of rebuilding it.
Got a new aftermarket one off ebay for about $80. Installed it and great, worked all last summer.
Last month, took the boat out for the 1st time this summer and after a few stops & starts on the lake, it all of a sudden started having a hard time turnign the motor. I thought it was the battery. Attached my portable battery booster and no luck. Got towed back to the ramp.
At home I determined it was the starter that I got a year before. I tracked down my receipts and saw I had 1 year warranty. It was exactly 1 year and I emailed the contact and they were great and shipped me a new one.
Got a new repalcement a week later and installed. Tested at home and it worked fine.
Took it onto the lake and problems started fairly soon. Sometimes the worm gear wouldnt shoot up to engage onto the ring gear. I checked the worm gear and it would get really stuck at the bottom of the shaft. I managed to manually free it (it was really stuck tight). After that I could start but it kept getting stuck and as a result it couldnt engage. It was oiled/lubed well though.
Went home, took out the starter and seems like a manufaturing fault. I could reproduce the worm gear getting stuck at its default position at home.
I emailed the company again and they said they will ship me another. Got the other one last week and installed and seemed to work great at home.
Went to the lake yesterday. It worked well for about 10 stop & go's. After about the 10th time the starter would no longer turn the motor. I took off the engine cover and saw the worm gear still engaged on the flywheel ring gear. It was very tight against the ring gear which is why it didnt want to drop. I had to move the flywheel with my hands to force the worm gear to drop. It kept getting stuck onto the flywheel when trying to start and was having a hard time to trun the motor.
Fortunatly I still had the previous starter with me, the one where the work gear would get stuck at the bottom position and wouldnt engage. I knew at least this one worked so I quickly swapped it out while on the lake.
When I tried starting, the ring gear came of the flywheel. What the heck! There was no way I could get the ring gear back on so was stranded again!
My questions:
1. Are these cheap after market starters inferior pieces of junk?
2. Am I doing somethign wrong when replacing the starter? I cant see that I am becuase there are only 2 nuts at the top and 1 with a braket to the side that mounts to the block.
3. When installing the starter, does it need to be alligned somehow? I dont see how that is possible as it fits quite snug with not much play.
4. How the heck could the ring gear come off the flywheel?
5. Should I bite the bullet and spend over $200 for a genuine mercury/force starter? If so, can anyone suggest where to buy one from at a decent price?
Sorry for the lengthly message, hope someone has some insight here.
